Vanimal46

The only MiLB players that come to mind who are out for the year are Kiriloff (TJ surgery) and Luis Arreaz (shredded his knee)

The problem with Washington is they back-loaded a lot of their contracts.... So they have to pay YUGE money to Scherzer, Strasburg, Zimmerman, and others after 2018. It's almost like they planned on not being able to re-sign Harper, and structured those contracts in a way where they could handle him on payroll until the end of 2018.

No kidding... It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility both Harper and Machado making $35+ MM a season when they hit FA. The bidding war between the big players is going to be INTENSE.

Harper's new contract for 2018... $21.625 MM. New record as he breaks David Price's high point of $19+ MM before hitting FA. This dude is going to break the game with the amount of money he'll get paid.

Not to derail this into a Twitter bashing thread.... But I'm very happy to be in a profession where I don't need to build a #Brand on Twitter.

Per Dustin Morse on Twitter: Miguel Sano's rankings in the AL: Avg. Exit Velocity 98.8 - 1st OBP .443 - 1st wOBA .465 - 1st Slug. .686 - 2nd Sano is on pace for 50 HR!

In the wayyy too early gold glove race, I think Buxton wins it over Kiermaier right now. Especially when Kiermaier made a couple of bone headed plays already that resulted in inside the park home runs.

You could almost convince me that a Sano check swing would still travel 200 feet in the air.... That dude swings at the ball so hard.

Hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks we start seeing callups from AA and AAA... Over the last 2+ seasons, Molitor has shown to favor the "known" veteran instead of grooming young players for better roles in the future. Especially in the bullpen. This team needs all the help they can get. I'd like to think the FO will win that battle promoting someone like Burdi and forcing Molitor to groom him for a late inning role instead of continuing to rely on 35 year old pitchers.

So there are a couple of things worth noting that I like from the new regime compared to the old... DFA'ing struggling players: Perception: They've been pretty aggressive cutting players that they don't see a future for on the team. So far it's been D Santana, Tonkin, and another player or 2 that's not coming to mind. The old FO did their fair share of DFA'ing players as well around this time of year - Fien, Stauffer, Schafer, etc. The big difference is TR kept out-of-options fringe players like D Santana around all season long instead of cutting bait. Using Off-Days and Rainouts to their advantage: Perception: The new FO loves to use off-days to keep a 4 man rotation, and for the most part, keep arms fresh. Will that come back to bite them later on when the team needs 6-7 starters in June/July? The old FO seemed to run the rotation on a strict 5 game schedule. Doesn't matter if there were 5 days in between the start, or 8 days. Rotating bullpen arms: Perception: The new FO has called up a ton of guys. May not be the ones we want (Burdi, Melotakis, etc.) but for the most part, have done a decent job rotating out bullpen arms. The old FO would have used every last ounce of a bullpen arm, even if they showed 6 weeks ago that their arm was toast. Any other things that come to mind for you?

Very true. If Berrios' last outing is a trend and not a fluke, they filled a massive hole already... Maybe it could be the year to find SP talent through trade and fill out the rest of the rotation.

I came into this season under the assumption that this is a ~75 win team. Because of that, I was ready to sell off Dozier, Erv, any veteran that produced. If they're over .500 on June 1, I'll be glad to change the strategy to contender, and think about buying SP instead of selling. Sano and Erv are playing at All-Star, even MVP levels at the moment, and both are healthy. The fanbase is so very tired of losing. It's going to be a very interesting next couple of months....

I think Sano can carry the offense all season long.... Sure, he'll have a couple of weeks where he slumps, and hopefully Dozier picks up the slack at that time. For the most part, this offense will be carried by Sano's power. Erv probably won't be this good all season long, but man, I'd sure love to see it through July and see if they could get a king's ransom for him. I'm most skeptical of Kintzler... They've been riding his coattails pretty hard over the first month and a half. Pitching him 3 consecutive days two different times already. I know he's been effective, but they're taking a risk using him this much early on without a good backup plan in case if he breaks down.

My guess is Gibson won't be called up this quickly and is down in Rochester to work on specific things. He may have 4-5 more starts in AAA before it's all said and done. As far as a starter for Saturday? Throw a dart. It's going to be a AAAA fill-in.

I'd remove Pressly and Wilk without thinking twice. Haven't liked what Pressly is doing lately, and think he should get straightened out in Rochester. Especially while the Twins are competitive. The bullpen should be a fluid group where they rotate out struggling pitchers with others who could be better. Burdi and Melotakis are high on my priority list to call up since they're rolling right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJiI58nmO9c ANNND Welcome Back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Mother’s Day Edition! It’s HAPPENING!! The Twins are on a 4 game winning streak, thanks to our new HERO, Jose Berrios. Dude threw on his Superman shirt and cruised through 7 innings NO PROBLEM! Today is the last game of this series in Cleveland… Before we talk about moms, let’s talk weather and lineups. Still a little too chilly for my taste! Sunny and 58 degrees at first pitch. Real feel of 60 degrees. SWIRLING winds out of the WNW at 12 MPH. Good thing Sano doesn’t need swirling winds to knock one out of the park! Minnesota Twins (19-14): P – Hector the Kollector (L) – 5 quality starts in his last 6 outings! Hasn’t given up more than 3 runs in a start this season! Cleveland Team (18-17): P – Trevor Bauer ® – Dude has a 7.36 ERA! After today it should be worse! All of the moms out there… Today is your special day! We couldn’t talk about anything else without feeling guilty about it. Whoever you think of as a mother…. The one who raised you, the mother of your children, or a really good friend who’s a mom, give her a call today to wish them Happy Mother’s Day! If you don’t, maybe your mom will put you on blast via YouTube like this mom! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g59FDkAdjlk Best moms, ranked: My mom – Okay, so maybe I’m a tad biased here…. She is the CEO of our family without a doubt. Growing up, she kept the family on time and on schedule for all of our activities. Not to mention being the best cook, interior designer, and card player in the family…. No matter if I’m 7, 17, or 27, if we’re under the same roof, she’s always taking care of us. My dad likes when we stop by too, since mom always cooks our favorite meals when we spend time together…. Nice consolation prize for him! Miguel Sano’s mom – She made sure Miguel ate enough so he could grow up to be big and strong, and we thank her for it! Because of her, Miguel is now a cross between a man and a tree! And crushing towering home runs for all to see! Carol Brady – The most memorable TV mom IMO… She combined 3 daughters with Mike’s family of 3 sons to make a loving, blended family together. This was even before “modern families” were mainstream! Once she let Oliver into the house though, the show was over….. Chewbacca Mom – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yRv5Jg5TI How can you not enjoy Chewbacca mom’s contagious laughter? She seems like a nice woman! Let’s hope she’s still wearing that Chewbacca mask today and bringing her children to tears with her laugh…. Have a great Mother’s Day everyone, and WIN TWINS!

See ya Clevinger.... I'll always be jealous of your amazing locks of hair!

What's everyone doing for Mother's Day tomorrow?

Berrios is cruising!!!

North still has those shorts and wears them every night after work!

You're telling me you've never been to a roller disco rink?! This is disappointing....

Come on North! You can stil boogie down and do the splits easy!

They are becoming the rage again! Austin has a roller disco rink and it's a ton of fun! Only thing that's missing is bell bottom jeans....

I don't! Do tell.

http://www.austinrollerdisco.com/uploads/6/8/0/0/6800356/9792750_orig.jpg ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Roller Disco Edition! I am your host and FUNKY DJ for the next two days, Vanimal. Happy Jose Berrios Day! It sure is nice to talk about him instead of pretending to care about Adam Wilk starting a game! The Twins are squaring off for game 2 against Cleveland, and who knows.... Maybe this game will be good! Before we get down to some funky beats and randomness, let's talk weather and lineups.... It's a bit chilly today in Cleveland! Sunny and 59 degrees at first pitch. REAL FEEL of 65 degrees... Winds out of the NW at 7 MPH. Minnesota Twins (18-14): Brian Dozier 2B Robbie Grossman LF Miguel Sano 3B Joe Mauer 1B Kennys Vargas DH Max Kepler RF Jorge Polanco SS Jason Castro C Byron Buxton CF P- Jose Berrios - 77 overall on MLB the Show! Cleveland Team (18-16): Carlos Santana 1B Francisco Lindor SS Michael Brantley LF Edwin Encarnacion DH Jason Kipnis 2B Jose Ramirez 3B Lonnie Chisenhall CF Yan Gomes C Abraham Almonte RF P- Mike Clevinger - dude has nice, flowing locks of hair! Now, you may be asking yourself, "Van, it's 2017. How can you keep a roller disco in business?" Well, pretty easily, actually! We travel from town to town throwing an EPIC party, and move on the next day. It's the only way to stay profitable! So come on! Find those bell-bottom pants in your closet, grow out that hair, and let's BOOGIE! While you're skating around, let DJ Van set the mood and whisper sweet nothings over the microphone.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huzYji2OAD4 Ohhhh yeah. Can you feel the FUNK now? Chief, North, and ChiTown are doing the splits on skates as I whisper these sweet nothings into your ear....I'm feeling good, so let's talk good things. Did we mention it's Jose Berrios Day? The intern is PUMPED to watch him again instead of playing as him on MLB the Show! Berrios seems like a nice guy! We all want to love you Jose. Let's start today! Miguel Sano is also doing what he does best, which is DOMINATE! His HR yesterday was all Big Erv needed to cruise through the rest of the game. Over the last 2 weeks, he's hit .323/.462/.774 with 4 HR and 10 RBI. Along with playing SUPER athletic defense. It's time to start the #VoteSano trend to get him in the All-Star game! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_sY2rjxq6M Ohhh yeah we're feeling the groove! Chief is doing the bump to everyone on the rink! I've never seen him move so fluidly before! 3 weeks ago, the taeks about Buxton could melt steel beams..... He just can't hit. Send him to AAA for another 2 months.... What if he never hits again? It looks like he's starting to figure things out too! Over his last 2 weeks, he's hitting .259/.286/.481 as well as flashing his speedy wheels and diving plays in the OF! Keep him up on the MLB club all season long, and enjoy the show! Today is also a long time member's birthday! Happy birthday Craig Arko! Get ready to blast off with a Twins win today!!